In 2013, Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of State Corporation Rostec, produced 303 helicopters for Russian and international customers, with an anticipated consolidated profit in excess of 140 billion roubles. Preliminary results were voiced at the Russian Helicopters board meeting which reviewed performance in the helicopter sector over the past year and outlined its main priorities for 2014.

“In 2013 Russian Helicopters continued to develop as a modern, highly efficient and dynamic Russian company,” Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev said. “We completed the state defence order in full, supplied combat helicopters to export and produced dozens of batches of safe, reliable commercial helicopters for Russian and international customers.”

We continued to modernise production over the past year. Over 800 news pieces of machinery were installed in our facilities, and more than 100 events designed to make us more eco-friendly and improve safety were held. Implementing investment projects delivered significant results: retooling the processing, plating, and composite industries was concluded. Output per employee increased by 12.4 per cent to 3.4 million roubles per staff member.

The portfolio of confirmed orders, as of December 11, 2013, stood at 772 helicopters worth over 370 billion roubles. Russian Helicopters’ order book is 100 per cent full for 2014, 73 per cent full for 2015 and 25 per cent full for 2016.

Russian Helicopters’ priorities for the coming year have been set. Notably, the vector of work on major projects in the light, medium and heavy classes of helicopters has been defined. One of the key priorities for 2014 will be slashing the timeframe for bringing the new multi-role Ka-62, Mi-38, and Mi-171A2 helicopters to market. An agreement with the company AgustaWestland was signed, creating a new light helicopter with a weight of 2.5 tonnes, in a joint venture. Russian Helicopters and Turbomeca signed an agreement on opening service centres to support the commissioning of the Ka-226T and Ka-62, equipped with French engines.

In 2014, work on developments and the creation of new helicopter models will continue at the innovation cluster at the company’s National Helicopter Manufacturing Centre in the Moscow region town of Tomilino, where Russian Helicopters’ key intellectual assets, the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and Kamov Design Bureau, are based.

In servicing, Russian Helicopters will continue to follow its strategy of developing a global system for post-sales services, which will allow it to move to “full life-cycle” helicopter sales, ensuring helicopter sold receive top-notch support throughout their service life.

In terms of corporate development, Russian Helicopters will continue to optimise its management systems to ensure a smooth transfer from financial to operational management models. The main goal will be bringing to a close the restructuring and optimisation of the key production and specialised enterprises that have come together to form Russian Helicopters.